Landscape ecology, use and application in forestry

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

12/04/2008

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Ecology & environment

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Summary :

Introduction.
Why landscape scale?
Landscape ecology and forestry.
1. Fragmentation.
2. Edge effects.
3. Connectivity.
4. Disturbance.
Conclusion.

Abstract

Many ecological processes result in or are affected by spatial patterns. However, the relative importance of different processes is very sensitive to the scale of analysis. For example, at a very local scale, species diversity is often strongly affected by competition and trophic interactions between species. In contrast, at the regional scale species diversity is more strongly inﬂuenced by habitat dynamics and biogeography. The majority of ecological studies in the past have focused on local level processes, probably because they are less daunting to measure and are more amenable to experimental manipulation. The recognition that the important processes acting at a landscape level are often different from those at a local level has led to the development of landscape ecology as a distinct approach with its own paradigms and methodologies. Ecologists have traditionally been interested in the spatial patterns of organisms. Charles Darwin's On The Origin of Species contains an entire chapter discussing the geographical distribution of species. However, the focus of his chapter, like much of the ecological literature since, is on the processes that create spatial patterns or biogeography. In contrast, an area of prime interest in landscape ecology is the way that spatial patterns affect ecological processes.